


it's only natural

by rare_cat_meme



Series: markhyuck university au [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cooking, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but not the ones you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 14:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18830986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rare_cat_meme/pseuds/rare_cat_meme
Summary: “What?” Jaemin’s face contorts in confusion. Yuta nods while gently combing the youngest’s hair. “Do you want to poison them?”“Of course not!” Mark splutters “I just want to do something nice...and maybe impress them?” he says slowly. Taeyong shakes his head.“I think you wanna prove you’re...how do the kids say these days?Boyfriend material? Or morehusband material, that you can” he stops stirring to make air quotations “take care of Donghyuck.”or Mark meets some important people in Donghyuck's life.





	it's only natural

**Author's Note:**

> huge thanks to [jinnieshyun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinnieshyun/pseuds/jinnieshyun) for beta'ing this!

Mark Lee is a man on a mission. He’s leaning on the kitchen counter diligently copying the ingredients of a red velvet cake recipe online to his tiny notebook. He can feel Taeyong’s concerned stare, as well as Yuta’s evil smile.

 

“I think it’s great that you want to impress them,” says Taeyong slowly. “I’m just not sure this is the way.”

 

“Oh, this  _ is _ the way,” chimes in Yuta, still grinning. Taeyong huffs and frowns at his partner.

 

“Are you seriously going to throw your child under the bus like that?”

 

“I’ve always said Jaemin’s my favourite,” Yuta shrugs. Mark sticks his tongue out to him. Yuta winks back.

 

“Can we  _ please _ focus? I have,” Mark pauses to look at his watch “About 3 hours to complete this or I’ll be deemed unsuited to date Donghyuck and that is  _ not  _ an option.” he says exasperated. Taeyong coos at him and runs to hug him tightly. Yuta rolls his eyes but joins in as well.

 

“They grow up so fast,” Taeyong fake weeps. “It seems like it was yesterday when I first saw you on campus, totally lost. You still had chubby baby cheeks!” he pinches Mark’s cheek. Yuta leans in to drop a kiss on Mark’s cheek — who promptly screeches.

 

“It seems like yesterday when you still accepted our kisses. Dating has changed you,” Yuta brings his hand to his forehead, looking at the ceiling dramatically. “Oh babe, we’re getting older! Ancient!” Taeyong nods solemnly.

 

Mark sighs deeply, staring at the cabinet in front of him.  _ Oh Donghyuck, the things I do for you...  _

 

☀

 

“So, who are we dealing with exactly?” Taeyong asks while stirring the melted chocolate and gel food coloring on the stove. “I’ve never seen you quite so eager to impress someone.”

 

“Yeah, and why do you think cooking will help you?” adds Yuta, who’s sitting on the counter munching on the remains of the culinary chocolate bar. “You can’t cook an egg to save your life.”

 

“Well,” Mark stops measuring the dry ingredients — if there’s one thing he’s learned is that he cannot multitask in the kitchen. “Donghyuck’s uni parents are not just his uni parents. They’re Moon Taeil and Johnny Seo.” Taeyong and Yuta gasp in shock. Mark shoots them both a look, _ yeah, fuck _ .

 

You’d think meeting your boyfriend’s parents would be the next big step in your relationship.  _ Oh boy, aren’t you wrong _ . 

 

One of the best things Mark found out when he moved out of his parents house to the university dorms was  _ uni parents _ . He had no say in it, but it doesn’t matter because from the moment Taeyong and Yuta ‘adopted’ him, his student life improved quite a lot. From free  _ (good) _ food, learning how to manage money, to random but generally great life advice, the couple certainly helped Mark enter adult life with more than average success. 

 

He met Yuta first, on his first week of class when he was looking for the international students orientation. No matter how many times the older teases him, Mark knows Yuta has always had a soft spot for him. It took Taeyong about 0.2 seconds to accept Mark as his uni child when Yuta dragged freshman Mark to the music production student’s apartment.  _ ‘You even share the same course!’ _ Yuta had said, excitedly. Taeyong made him eat dinner with them that same day, and the rest is history.

 

Now that he’s on his second year and has successfully moved into an apartment just outside of campus with Yukhei, Jaemin has joined the family as the new baby. He fits in quite well with the three of them and, even though Mark doesn’t really believe in fate, he has to admit there’s some destined shit with the Lee-Na unofficial family.

 

Donghyuck, too, has already found his uni parents. Johnny,  the 3rd year photography student who all the creative media teachers rave about all the time — Yuta, a broadcast and tv student of the same year, always mentions him with a dash of admiration and jealousy. And Taeil, the music production student who began his masters degree this year — Taeyong and Mark’s professors say he’s one of the best of the last 20 years. So yeah, not only are they the university’s power couple, they’re Donghyuck’s unofficial guardians. If Mark doesn’t impress them, he’s fucked.

 

“Do you think Doyoung will invite them to the annual dinner?” wonders Yuta. “Not gonna lie, it would be kind of awesome to see him be defeated as the unofficial guardian of the year,” he says with an evil grin. Taeyong rolls his eyes, but Mark can see him smile at the small pan.

 

Doyoung, one of the student’s association representatives, hosts an annual dinner party that turns into a competition between teams of uni parents and their ‘children’. It started as a joke, mostly as a way to get older students to interact with freshmen so they’d have more experienced people to go to if they ever need help. However, it didn’t take long for people to become  _ very _ competitive and to turn a friendly event into basically the hunger games of parenting. 

 

There are a few veterans of the game, the latest being Doyoung, Taeyong (and Yuta by association) and Kun. Last year Doyoung and Jeno had claimed the first prize with their undeniable chemistry, while Mark, Taeyong and Yuta ended up being second thanks to the couple’s already existing dynamic. Kun and Yukhei surprisingly took the third place — all thanks to Kun, Yukhei was way too distracted.

 

This year’s dinner is coming up in about two weeks and while Mark is excited about it — it means free food, good company and a fun night — there’s a lot of new competition and both him and Taeyong know Yuta is thirsty for a win, especially now that Jaemin joined the family and their odds of winning are slightly upped.

 

There’s a knock on the door and a pink head pops in. Yuta gasps, delighted.

 

“What did I miss?” Jaemin says with a smile, quickly running to hug Yuta.

 

“Mark wants to bake a cake for Donghyuck’s uni parents,” Taeyong says casually. 

 

“What?” Jaemin’s face contorts in confusion. Yuta nods while gently combing the youngest’s hair. “Do you want to poison them?” 

 

“Of course not!” Mark splutters “I just want to do something nice...and maybe impress them?” he says slowly. Taeyong shakes his head.

 

“I think you wanna prove you’re...how do the kids say these days?  _ Boyfriend material _ ? Or more  _ husband material _ , that you can,” he stops stirring to make air quotations, “ _ take care of Donghyuck. _ ”

 

Mark blushes furiously and but does not refute Taeyong’s theory because...well, he’s right. 

 

“Aw that’s so cute,” Jaemin says “Hyuck has made you a big softie!” he moves towards Mark to pinch his cheek. Mark whines turning away from him.

 

“Speaking of proving yourself and what not, is everyone aware of this year’s uni families party?” Taeyong chimes in. Everyone nods.

 

“Good tactic on having matching hair with me,” Yuta grins, messing Jaemin’s freshly dyed pink hair. “Mark, you should match Tae.”

 

Mark looks at Taeyong’s bright red hair and scrunches his face while he remembers his ramen hair days last year,  _ yeah, not nice  _ (there’s also an extra voice that sounds like Donghyuck commenting that he looked kind of cute with blond hair). Yuta and Jaemin, however, are looking at him intently and he has a feeling  _ should _ actually means  _ will _ . He settles for what he thinks will benefit both sides.

 

“Can I do dark red instead of bright?”

 

“Yeah, why not,” shrugs Yuta. “The Lee-Na family will win this year!”

 

☀

 

The plans of action for the event go on, but Mark shuts them off for the sake of the cake that will conquer Johnny and Taeil’s stomach, and therefore their hearts. Taeyong monitors him closely and Jaemin steps in to make the frosting. In the end the cake doesn’t look particularly pretty outside, but Taeyong’s proud smile when he tastes the scraps that were cut off to frost the cake tell him he didn’t do too bad. The three of them send him off after carefully wrapping the cake. They also make Mark change his outfit three times and Taeyong insists in styling his hair. It was a hassle, but it’s all out of love. 

 

Taeyong’s apartment is not far away from Johnny and Taeil’s, so Mark walks the short distance praying to all entities that nothing ruins his precious cake. He starts planning the possible scenarios of conversation that might unfold. So far he’s got his plans of the next 5 years, how he thinks the Korean government should fight global warming at an individual level, the possibilities of life after the sun explodes and how ‘no deal’ Brexit will affect the trade worldwide covered. 

 

As he reaches his uni parents-in-law, Mark’s mind proceeds to blank and he awkwardly rings the bell, choking out a high pitched ‘ _ this is Mark _ ’ on the speaker to whom he believes might be Taeil. On the elevator he rethinks his entire life and wonders what would it take to be stuck in the elevator for the rest of the day — he even has cake! 

 

What he’s not expecting is a huge man shouting  _ ‘Boo!’ _ at his face just as he opens the elevator door. He also doesn’t expect his instinctive response to be throwing his pristine red velvet cake at said man’s face. And finally, as some clarity on what the fuck just happened starts to appear, Mark is horrified to discover he just  _ caked  _ Johnny _ in the face _ in front of Donghyuck and Taeil — who are doubled over by the entrance door, laughing.

 

“Oh my God,” Mark gasps, face as pale as a paper sheet and hands moving with no direction. His brain is dead: confirmed. “ _ I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I did this- _ ” Johnny is laughing loudly.

 

“Nice to finally meet you, Mark.” Johnny wheezes out, after busting out his lungs. “I didn’t know you were armed.” They both look at the floor to find Mark’s baby squashed on the floor, still pristinely wrapped.  _ At least there won’t be any stains _ . He’s too overwhelmed to properly answer Johnny.

 

“Oh my God you broke him.”

 

☀

 

“I’m sorry for your cake, I feel really bad for ruining it. I’m sure it was delicious!” Johnny says sheepishly, scratching his neck and light pink painting his cheeks.

 

The four of them are sitting down on the dinner table eating Taeil’s pristine cooking (Mark is totally not sad about his cake,  _ totally _ ). After they stopped laughing, Taeil and Donghyuck finally invited Mark inside. The cake was sadly destroyed and Johnny made a small funeral ceremony before throwing it in the trash. Despite his offer of peace being gone, Mark was able to relax with Taeil’s easy banter and Johnny’s ocasional jokes. Donghyuck has been suspiciously quiet, standing close and playing with Mark’s fingers under the table. 

 

“It’s fine. Honestly, it probably wasn’t that good anyway,” Mark says quietly. “Taeyong hyung helped me make it since I’m terrible in the kitchen.” Taeil’s eyes go wide.

 

“Lee Taeyong? From music production?” he asks excitedly.

 

“Uh, yeah?” Mark answers unsure.

 

“Ah, I know him! My professors always mention him,” he says, leaning back on the chair with a charming smile. “He recently informed me of this year’s _ family party. _ ” 

 

“Family what?” Johnny asks confused. Taeil gestures for Mark to answer.

 

“Doyoung hyung, from the student association, organises a mini competition between  _ uni families _ as a way to help freshmen and seniors to interact,” he explains quickly. “It gets stupidly competitive though. Doyoung is an absolute beast.” He pauses briefly, considering if the information he’s about to give will affect this year’s results. “I participated with Taeyong hyung and Yuta hyung last year. We came second and Yuta hyung was devastated, he’s giving it his all this year.”

 

“So I’m guessing you guys are going this year too?” Taeil asks.

 

“Yeah, Jaemin joined our  _ family _ this year too,” Mark chuckles softly. “Are you thinking about participating?”

 

Johnny and Taeil share a look Mark can’t quite decipher. Donghyuck, who has been quiet for most of the night, clears his throat.

 

“Yes we are, I want to rub our victory in Jaemin’s face,” he says casually. Taeil laughs amused. “What? He’s been bragging about Yuta hyung and Taeyong hyung for ages, I’m tired,” he whines.

 

“Then I guess we have no choice,” Johnny shrugs with a grin towards Mark. 

 

☀

 

Operation ‘Snatch Taeil And Johnny’s Hearts’ is a success. By the end of the night, they've asked Mark all about his courses, his family, his interests and seem impressed at his (very cool and well thought out) answers. Donghyuck and him leave together, but not before Johnny reminds Donghyuck to put academic references on his essay due tomorrow.  _ ‘Yes, dad,’ _ he answers with an eye roll and a fond smile. As they walk hand in hand towards Donghyuck's dorm, Mark is overflowing with giddiness.

 

“You're such a parent charmer.” Donghyuck says in a whiny tone, but his smile betrays him. “They're so whipped for you and it's only been a couple of hours. Johnny is probably going to text you so you can both speak English or whatever. “ 

 

Mark laughs loudly in the quiet street. He moves closer to Donghyuck, wrapping his arms around his waist and touches their noses together.

 

“I had tricks in my sleeve…” he says with a grin. “Just don't tell Yuta, he'll be so mad if he thinks I traded him for Johnny.”

 

Donghyuck grins evilly before kissing him square on the lips. Mark is momentarily lost in the moment. Donghyuck's hands play with the tiny hairs on the back of his head. His lips are soft and plush. He gently bites Mark's bottom lip, smiling at the the surprised noise Mark lets out. After dropping a few more kisses here and there, Donghyuck pulls away, grabbing Mark’s hand once again and throws him a cheeky grin before taking off at high speed.

 

They run until they reach the front door of the university dorms. Breathless, they both burst into giggles.

 

“What was that for?” Mark asks, bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for air. Donghyuck smiles and shrugs.

 

“Felt like it.” 

 

Donghyuck closes their distance, wrapping his arms around Mark’s waist and pulling him close.

 

“Thank you,” he says quietly, eye to eye, with the most genuine smile Mark has witnessed. 

 

“It’s-” Mark starts, but Donghyuck lays a finger gently on his lips. It’s enough to signal,  _ this is important.  _ Mark smiles back instead, leaning forward and giving Donghyuck his final kiss of the night.  _ For you, anything _ . 

 

“We’re gonna beat you so bad.” Donghyuck says before turning away towards the door.

 

“Of course you will,” Mark answers with a grin. “ _ Rookie _ .”

 

He laughs as Donghyuck makes finger guns and winks before disappearing into the building. It’s not even two minutes later he gets a call.

 

“What?” Mark asks amused.

 

“ _ Uh _ ,” Donghyuck stammers. “ _ I love you. _ ”

 

“Mhh,” Mark answers, grinning to himself as he hears a faint whine from the other side. “I love you too.” He briefly waits. “Even if you’re gonna lose big time.” He hangs up before Donghyuck can protest. Awfully satisfied, he makes his way home with a giddy smile and a full heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> who will win the 'hunger games of parenting'? who will be the new competitors?  
> what kind of dad are you?  
> \- taeyong, nice and supportive dad  
> \- yuta, bullies u out of love dad  
> \- johnny, dad joke dad  
> \- taeil, wholesome cool dad  
> for ominous spoilers: [twitter](https://twitter.com/ridikunlous)  
> tell me what you want to see: [cc](https://curiouscat.me/ridikunlous)


End file.
